A targeted strategy meeting of European Civil Society networks was held on 17 February 2016 at Philanthropy House, Brussels to discuss current state of affairs, advocacy priorities and future possibilities for engagement vis-à-vis the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and its impact on civic space in Europe and beyond.

One of the (unintended) drivers of the shrinking space of civil society is the international counter-terrorism policymaker FATF and its recommendations. Counter-terrorism is used by some governments as a justification to clamp down on civil society. One of the key FATF policy recommendations, Recommendation 8, singles out the NPO sector as being particularly vulnerable to terrorist abuse despite the fact that there is little to prove the fact. The FATF Plenary meets mid- February and FATF is likely to hold a face-to-face meeting with NPOs in Brussels in April this year. We are now gaining momentum to influence revision of key FATF policy papers. It is hence timely for European Civil Society organisations to jointly strategise and prepare on this important topic.

ECNL, EFC and the Human Security Collective are working together to increase awareness among European civil society organisations (CSOs) of challenges arising from the FATF Recommendations and their implementation at EU and country levels, and to build a broader European coalition to address these challenges more effectively. Our organisations are also part of a global NPO coalition working on FATF, active since 2012.

The main purpose of the meeting on February 17 was to exchange views and build a stronger EU CSO coalition on future engagement points with FATF ahead of the expected NPO consultation meeting in April 2016.

Disclaimer:
The Civil Society platform on the FATF has been set up by HSC, ECNL and EFC, in collaboration with CSN. It aims to ensure that civil society is effectively engaged in the debate on anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing. Any views or opinions presented on this web platform are solely those of these organisations or its partners, and do not necessarily represent the views of the FATF or its members.

​Website produced under project 'Standing up Against Counter-Terrorism Measures that Constrain Civic Space', supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Human Rights Initiative.​ The views on the website do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Society Foundations.